Matthew Gilbert's TV-14 - Closing out the season in style

8. ET TU, BRUTE

"Rome"
First season finale, Nov. 20, 2004
"Kalends of February"

Of course, the death of Caesar was the Big Moment during this episode. The sight was both iconic and troubling: Caesar, played majestically by Ciaran Hinds, convulsing on the floor of the senate, with the scrawny Brutus above him, pushing the knife into his stomach. But the fictional story line on "Rome" came to an even more dramatic climax, as Lucius Vorenus confronted his wife, Niobe, about the identity of the father of their son. Niobe backs away from his formidable anger, onto the porch, and over the ledge.